Contents

Geography

Lago della Piazza and Hospice area

The Gotthard Pass lies on the main watershed of the Gotthard massif, a massif lying at the heart of the
Swiss Alps, between the cantons of
Valais,
Ticino,
Grisons and
Uri. The pass itself is the lowest point between the summits of
Pizzo Lucendro (west) and
Pizzo Centrale (east). It connects the cantons of Uri (north) and Ticino (south), its summit (2,106 metres (6,909 ft), indicated by a road sign) being located in the latter canton, about 2 km south of the border with Uri. The valleys connected by the pass are that of the river
Reuss, named the Urseren, and that of the river
Ticino, named Valle Leventina. The Gotthard axis is the most important route between
Central Switzerland as well as most of the northern part of the country and the southern region of Ticino. It is the most direct link between
Zürich and
Lugano and also between some regions of northern Europe and
Italy (
Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa axis).

Just southeast of the culminating point of the Gotthard Pass, at an elevation of about 2,090 metres above sea level, are several lakes. The largest is named Lago della Piazza and has a surface of 3.94
hectares. South of Lago della Piazza are the Hospice (
Italian: Ospizio) and National Museum, as well as a hotel and restaurants. Another official road sign displaying an elevation of 2,091 metres (6,860 ft) lies there.

A few kilometres away and slightly above the Gotthard Pass are found two large dams and artificial lakes:
Lago di Lucendro at the foot of Pizzo Lucendro and
Lago della Sella at the foot of Pizzo Centrale. They are respectively part of the Reuss and Ticino basin, although both are located within the canton of Ticino.

History

Though the pass was locally known in antiquity, it was not generally used until the early 13th century because travel involved fording the turbulent
Reuss, swollen with snowmelt during the early summer, in the narrow steep-sided
Schöllenen Gorge, below
Andermatt.

The first wooden bridge across Schöllenen Gorge was built around 1220, and in the following years the pass rapidly gained in importance.

The bridge permitted traffic to follow the Reuss to its headwaters and over the saddle at the top—a
continental divide between the
Rhine, which flows into the North Sea and the river
Ticino towards
Milan, which after leaving Switzerland flows into the
Po and ultimately into the
Adriatic Sea.

The Gotthard Pass was formerly known as Monte Tremolo (its southern slope is still known as Val Tremola).[citation needed]

A chapel dedicated to
Saint Gotthard of Hildesheim (died in 1038, canonized 1131), who was considered the patron saint of mountain passes, was built on the southern slope of the pass and consecrated by the
archbishop of Milan in 1230.[1] The pass soon became known after the saint, by as early as 1236.

The opening of the Schöllenen Gorge for traffic was an important factor in the original
Swiss Confederacy. The three regions of
Uri,
Schwyz and
Unterwalden (the Waldstätten or "forest communities") gained
imperial immediacy under the
Hohenstaufen emperors still in the first half of the 13th century. An important aspect of the early confederacy, expressed in the Pfaffenbrief of 1370, was the guarantee of peace along the road from Zürich to the Gotthard Pass.

The Swiss also had an interest in extending their influence south of the Alps to secure the trade route across the pass to
Milan. Beginning in 1331, they initially exerted their influence through peaceful trade agreements, but in the 15th century, their involvement
turned military. 1403 the upper
Leventina, as the valley south of the pass is called, became a protectorate of Uri. Throughout the 15th century, a changeful struggle between the Swiss and the
Duchy of Milan ensued, resulting ultimately in the Swiss conquest of the territory of the
Ticino.

The "
Devil's Bridge" (Teufelsbrücke) legend associated with the crossing of the Schöllenen Gorge is not medieval; it may date to the 16th century (attestation of the name Teiffels Brucken in 1587) but more likely formed in the 17th century, and is first recorded in the early 18th century, by
Johann Jakob Scheuchzer.[2]

A new road, including a tunnel with a length of c. 60 m, was built in 1707/8. The tunnel, known as Urnerloch, was the first road tunnel to be built in the Alps. It was constructed by Pietro Morettini (1660–1737).

The new Gotthard road was built in 1830,[citation needed] wide enough to allow (single-lane) motorized traffic.
With the
Gotthard Road Tunnel (opened in 1980) the pass itself was again reduced to limited importance for traffic.

Crossing the Gotthard

The modern concrete span of the third Devil's Bridge (Teufelsbrücke, built 1958) showing an older bridge (built 1830) below.

Roads and tunnels

The National Road 2 descending to Airolo.

In addition to the National Road 2, crossing the pass and connecting
Göschenen with
Airolo, several tunnels provide access through the massif. The first one, the 15 kilometres (9.3 mi)
Gotthard Rail Tunnel, opened in 1882 for railway traffic at a cost of around 200 workers' lives (there is uncertainty as to the exact toll).[3] The second one, the 17 kilometres (11 mi)
Gotthard Road Tunnel (a motorway tunnel), opened in 1980. It was closed for two months in 2001 following a fatal fire. Both railway and motorway tunnels have portals in Göschenen and Airolo, at around 1,150 metres above sea level, and are close to each other. Either rail and road traffics through these tunnels are sometimes shut down during harsh weather conditions, particularly in winter.

The last tunnel, the 57 kilometres (35 mi)
Gotthard Base Tunnel (a double-tube railway tunnel), opened in 2016. At around 500 metres above sea level, it provides for the first time a flat route through the massif and the Alps from the northern plains at
Erstfeld to the southern plains at
Bodio. It is the longest and deepest railway tunnel in the world. This tunnel, combined with two shorter tunnels planned near
Zürich and
Lugano as part of the
NRLA project, will reduce the 3 hour 40 min rail journey from
Zürich to
Milan by one hour, while increasing the size and number of trains that can operate along the route because the line is nearly level, compared with the spirals of the older tunnel.